Today’s tech gadget owners shell out a few extra dollars for devices with Gorilla Glass screens since they are crack and scratch resistant, but very few know the colorful history behind it.
The original method for tempering glass that can withstand immense amounts of pressure and scratches dates back to 400 AD in Scandinavia. In 2003 archeologists uncovered a memoir from this time period written by a brothel owner from an area near Oslo named Rolf. At this time Vikings had begun to immerge and were raiding coastal villages. Rather innovative at the time, Rolf would display his women in windows attracting lots of business, however this turned out to be a risky ploy. When the Vikings came ashore and raided the village they would simply break the glass and take the women. After losing more than a dozen women Rolf decided to go to work on a solution. He recounts his experimentation with how he tempered the glass until his strongest axe swing couldn’t break it, and to his surprise, didn’t even scratch. Although this version of the glass was a bit cloudier than today’s rendition one could still see his women through it. Months later the Vikings come ashore with the intent to sack the village, and this time Rolf had replaced his large display panes with his new glass. He recorded that after swords and axes didn’t work they threw their own bodies at it and after they had thoroughly injured themselves they began throwing large rocks. Finally they simply moved on, and that’s where Rolf’s story stops. However the memoir continues with one final entry from an anonymous writer stating the Vikings came back with more numbers and broke in through the back door. They dismantled the front of the building until they could move what the ghost writer said they called “the demon shield.” They then placed Rolf and several of his prostitutes on the ground and placed the glass pane over them and then proceeded to trample those underneath it to death. The panes were then thrown into the ocean.
The History Channel is currently working on a feature for this lost that should be out in early 2013. So there you have it, when you carry gorilla glass with you, you’re carrying a little piece of history as well.
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